Factorial Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview went well, throughout the whole process there was a very close and pleasant but professional atmosphere. You leave the different stages wanting to work there. Finally, I received the offer and everything was as expected, a lot of transparency and expectation management. As the only negative point, I would say that the process is too long. It took me approximately 2 months from when I started the process until I received the offer. It feels a bit frustrating to have to wait 1 week each time there is a new 30-minute stage, especially if the process has so many parts, as is the case. Regarding the required technical challenge, it's a cool and fun test, but I think it could be focused on something that better shows the person's seniority in a shorter time. It requires investing quite a few hours, and although it's true that they give you plenty of time (about 2 weeks, extendable), it can feel slow to do (and frustrating if you don't pass the stage afterwards). In summary, the experience was good, but I think it could be shortened a bit.

The initial HR and Hiring Manager interviews were surprisingly smooth and brief. The Hiring Manager focused on my past experience, and they both seemed quite pleasant. A couple of days later, I submitted the coding challenge on time. Then there was a significant period of silence; I had to reach out about the status, but was ignored for another week or more. Communication was really bad after the first two chats. Eventually, they scheduled the interview to review my code challenge. I thought it would be me presenting my work with some back-and-forth questions. It started that way, but then shifted to rapid-fire questions, leaving very little time for my own questions at the end. While I was pleased with my solution (they even complimented it), my nervousness impacted my performance during the interview. I should have elaborated more and provided greater detail; the questions weren't difficult or tricky. However, after another long wait, I got a rejection email from a no-reply address with generic feedback that didn't even align with my interview. The rejection felt very impersonal, and the lack of communication throughout was notable. For a company focused on HR, they really need to improve their interview process.

The process was agile and simple, without complicated technical interviews or trick questions. The first stage was a chat with the hiring manager, followed by a frontend task for which I was given a week. The task was not particularly complex. Finally, I had an interview with the manager and another engineer to discuss the task performed. Direct processes like this are appreciated, without the need to go through a multitude of interviews.